Michigan

Western Michigan men's basketball beat Akron, 64-60, in overtime on Friday, March 14, 2014, in the Mid-American Conference semi-final game to advance to the championship game on Saturday. Photo by Joshua Gunter of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
(Joshua Gunter | The Cleveland Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND – Seniors David Brown and Shayne Whittington are leading the Western Michigan University men’s basketball team on a magical ride this season.

The Broncos punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament Saturday with a convincing 98-77 win over Toledo in the Mid-American Conference Championship game and the two seniors were big reasons why.

But, Whittington will be moving on to chase a professional career next year and Brown might be doing the same thing.

Already, there is skepticism showing in a fan base, suggesting that the Broncos might not be anywhere near as good next year without their two veteran stars.

Tucker Haymond and Connar Tava don't seem to think the same thing. They proved to be X-factors in the MAC Tournament championship run and will be big pieces in the Broncos' future plans.

Haymond, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound freshman small forward from Seattle has grown into a productive college player with each passing game and the progress was on full display in the MAC Tournament.

Haymond looked like a veteran in some big moments in WMU’s win over Akron on Friday and its victory over Toledo.

WMU coach Steve Hawkins said he liked what he saw from the freshman at Quicken Loans Arena.

“That kid’s got a lot of courage, sometimes more than I want him to,” Hawkins said. “The first 3 that he hit (Friday night), when it left his hand I was like, ‘I don’t know about that.’ When it dropped I knew another one was coming soon, because once he makes one he’s going to fire away. He hit a big one last night (Friday) to put us ahead and tonight he started off the same way. He’s aggressive and has a lot of courage.

“There’s times where we’ve had to try to pull the reins back on him a little bit throughout the year, but he’s accepted that well. He calms down for a minute and then he’ll get it going again. Sometimes, he’s a little out of control like a freshman can be, but you don’t want to harness that too much. He was feeling it when he got here. He loves the big stage. He talks about it all the time. It showed tonight. It showed all weekend.”

On Friday, the frosh nailed a 3-pointer to give WMU a 48-47 lead in the midst of an 18-0 run during a second-half comeback against Akron. He finished with eight points against the Zips.

On Saturday, Haymond’s confidence was overflowing as he scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds, four on the offensive end, against Toledo.

The youngster embraced the big stag and had fun with it. He stuck out his tongue as he danced down the floor after a few of his four 3-pointers Saturday.

“These guys (Whittington and Brown) and Connar (Tava) and everyone else on our team draw a lot of attention,” Haymond said after the game. “I didn’t do anything out of our offense. I just stayed within myself and these guys found me.”

Western Michigan's Connar Tava battles for the ball during the Broncos' 98-77 win over Toledo in the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game in Cleveland on Saturday, March 15, 2014.Joshua Gunter | The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Haymond is averaging seven points and nearly four rebounds per game to compliment superb athleticism that is evident with every drive to the basket. With continued development, he could be the next in a growing list of talented scoring wing players in Hawkins’ tenure.

Tava, a sophomore, continued to show his versatility and dominance at times in the MAC Tournament. He finished with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists against Toledo.

Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk praised Haymond and Tava for their efforts in the game, but the Rockets coach repeatedly pronounced Tava’s name wrong. It’s understandable, as the correction pronunciation, “Tay-vee” isn’t usually one’s first guess, but it’s strong evidence that he’s not yet a household name like Whittington or Brown.

Tava gave the Broncos a boost coming out of halftime against the Rockets. WMU led by two points, 42-40, at halftime, but Tava scored the first four points of the second half to bump the lead up to six.

“He came just at the right time,” Brown said. “Connar got a little frustrated with people grabbing his jersey and Connar’s a hot head, but we calmed him down and he came up big for us. He’s a difficult matchup for anybody. He’s an undersized four and handles the ball like a guard.”

Tava is averaging 12 points and nearly six rebounds per game

Haymond and Tava will return as starters next year with Austin Richie, who will be a senior. Incoming 6-9 freshman Drake Lamont is the frontrunner to start at center, though sophomore A.J. Avery and redshirt freshman Kellen McCormick could challenge based on their continued development. One guard spot will be open for competition next season.

Next year’s lineup the last thing on the Broncos’ mind, though, as they prepare to go dancing in the NCAA Tournament with Brown and Whittington leading a strong supporting cast in their footsteps.